The anon review, as if you couldn't tell, is mine. Apparently FF logged me out at some point without my realizing it.

Guest chapter 1 . 10/25/2007

"Then he decided that would look childish and rested his elbows on his knees instead, his head bowed only loosely, so that if his mother came around the corner of the hedge suddenly Draco could claim that he was just thinking, not brooding." - Love pouty, but trying not to look pouty, Draco!

"He would have given much to be that unobtrusive, that useful." - This sentence evokes great frustration and despair, things I'm sure Draco felt during and right after his year with the DE's, but also things Draco could / would only, ever show when he was alone in the privacy of his own home.

"because he’d seen the Dark Lord’s snake eat two people there, and it was at night that he’d done most of his coerced torturing" - This is something that isn't addressed as frequently as I'd imagine - just how Draco felt / reacted to everything he was put through that year AND how he felt about it afterward, once it wasn't so much a fight for survival anymore.

"his chin resting on his arms, where were resting on a windowsill, " - This is missing something but for the life of me, at almost 2am, I can't fathom what. Regardless, I like the image of boredom it portrays.

"smacked into his palm" - He touched a BUG! I'm shocked! *grin*

"even a threat, maybe, as if to say that he could swallow Draco up in his power and prestige just like the sundew could swallow insects." - *rolls eyes* How very, very DRACO to see an innocuous gift, an olive branch as a veiled threat! VERY accurate portrayal of young Malfoy I believe.

"This was the first thing that anyone had given Draco of their own free will in—years." - Aww! Poor Draco, that whole evil git thing doesn't get you on a lot of Christmas card lists does it?

"He hadn’t been able to write letters even when he wanted to, before" - You are doing a great job of dropping hints about Draco's year under the Dark Lord and describing the restlessness and frustration of his year of isolation.

"with a gleeful little waggle of her tail feathers." - I love when birds do this, ducks in particular, but that's just me.

"like a small child who had to go to the loo" - Bahaha! Love it!

"she literally can’t hear me" - Bless his heart! That whole letter, while sarcastic of course, really DID paint a picture of the sad state of both the Malfoys and Draco in particular.

"unshielded by the Malfoy" - That's actually very brave, for Draco.

"the Muggle books he’d discreetly ordered" - Bahaha! I love how taken he is with this project. I don't think Harry has ANY idea how much he really helped Draco with that small gift.

"Lozzy and my sundew and me" - That sounds like a hippy 70's song.

"even if that something was as small as sundew seeds" - SO SWEET! I love how you've described his feelings here. You've captured the situation very well!

"We won the war because she lied for me." - This redeemed Narcissa for me 100% in the book.

"Anyone who can show his reluctance that openly in front of a madman" - That is an aspect that I don't think very many people have hit on with Draco. If Harry could see his reluctance, then so could Voldemort.

"and sometimes I wake up in the morning and just assume you’re—there. In the bed with me, I mean." - That's very sweet and VERY gutsy of Harry (Gryffindors I guess) to tell Draco that. On the other hand, he does have almost a year before he'll even possibly see Draco again so I guess, why not. It can be far easier to write something & send it on before you can stop yourself rather than try to say something to someone's face.

"and count to two hundred." - The Malfoy control is astounding.

"looked to make sure the damselfly had stopped struggling" - I know the sundew is integral in the story so of course we're going to read about it but you've done an excellent job of making it seem like the references to the sundew are just passing detail yet they hold so much significance really. Excellent job!

I loved the snatches of Draco's letters. Those were wonderful! Those pieces of letters, those glimpses into his thoughts and mind and what he ultimately does as his significant thing are my two favorite parts of the story. The Harry part is sweet and Harry definitely helps him in his own way but this is more a story about Draco and his personal redemption. WELL DONE!

"They were sticky, and they caught ideas as fiercely as his sundew caught insects." - LOVE the comparison between the sundew and Draco's 'thing to do'.

"Now Draco was rather inclined to pity his father, who had never imagined what he could discover in other living things and was in a place where he never would again." - Nice reference to LM and Draco's changing attitude toward him.

"then the dew should catch the madness and devour it, leading her sanity back to the surface." - What he decided to do TOTALLY took me by surprise, it was an ingenious idea and I'm so proud of him for it. He did something for someone else, even if it was someone close to him, you can't expect him to go all Gryffindor in just a year!

"because he was crying, too, even if he hid it against her shoulder" - Aw! I'm glad Cissa's hugging him (even though I'd gladly volunteer for the job) because he needs and deserves it! Sweetie!

"and I know what I want to do for the rest of my life." - Hey, it's the beginnings of Psyche-Diver Draco! Helping people back from insanity and all... *grin*

"He found that he knew it even though it had been more than a year." - So strange to think about, the fact that they were so close and yet they never spoke aloud, never saw each other for more than a year. The Internet is kind of like that. There are people you know very well and yet you couldn't pick them out in a crowd, wouldn't know their voice if you heard it.

"It was his privilege, since Harry had once done it to him." - Still Draco, get the tit for tat out of the way so you can kiss (literally, YAY) and make up and move forward.

This story SO wanted to be longer didn't it? It tried to argue that it wasn't a one-shot and needed more. But you did a wonderful job of convincing it that it was, indeed, a one-shot and would it please wrap up smoothly, thank you.

aw i love all these little one shots that you do almost as much as the full lengthed stories, probably because i have no patience so this way i get to know the end of the story right away lol, beautiful story hun, it was really somehting a little different...I can't wait for more!

Lovely. Beautiful. Absolutely satisfying, although I was hardly ready for it to end where it did. This one-shot is just more evidence as to why you deserve my "favorite author" title. I have yet to see anyone rival it. I'll let you know if competition comes along. ;)

I LOVE Draco, and the justice you do to him. You really master his voice. Harry isn't bad, either, although I think he tends to be a bit more eloquent in your stories than I ever gave him credit for. :P